Russell Mav Photography

Russell Mav Photography Russell Mav specializes in wildlife photography and captures stunning photos available for print. View his online gallery!

Last week I shared my first glimpse of a quetzal. While that image was more unique and I love the hidden aspect of it, t...
06/04/2026

Last week I shared my first glimpse of a quetzal. While that image was more unique and I love the hidden aspect of it, the quetzal is just one of those birds that needs to be seen in full!

Fortunately for me, the cloud forest and a different quetzal came together and decided to cooperate a bit more a couple days later! Ultimately I still might prefer my photo from last week, but it's close... and also I don't even need to choose 😅😂

I know I post in slow motion, but I still have a couple more quetzal photos I'm excited to share after this one.

Taken with my OM1II and the OM SYSTEM 150-400 F/4.5 Pro .cameras .americas

My first quetzal encounter of this trip was just a glimpse through the dense cloud forest. Not exactly the wide open per...
05/29/2026

My first quetzal encounter of this trip was just a glimpse through the dense cloud forest. Not exactly the wide open perch you picture when you dream about photographing quetzals, but I love this image!

The entire encounter was fairly quick, but he held this pose long enough for me to find a small opening to shoot through. Even better, the clouds were moving rapidly overhead, creating a huge variety of light from frame to frame. I was able to choose the exact mood/lighting I wanted out of hundreds of images.

Any photographer knows light doesn't usually cooperate that nicely, so I am beyond thankful for that opportunity 😅

Happy Friday!
americas .cameras

White-faced capuchin baby!We were driving back after a pretty long day of hiking, and from the car we thought we saw som...
05/20/2026

White-faced capuchin baby!

We were driving back after a pretty long day of hiking, and from the car we thought we saw some monkeys, so we pulled over. It ended up being a whole family of capuchins moving through the trees and eventually settling down for the night.

We probably got to watch them for about an hour as they moved along, but I really didn't get a lot of great photo opportunities since it was dark and dense. But, at the end of the day, I was very happy to just have gotten this one photo! I love his little hand 😁

Taken with my OM1II and M.Zuiko 150-400 F4.5 lens .cameras

Violet Sabrewing!This is a massive hummingbird, nearly double the size of the other hummingbirds we saw on this hike. An...
05/18/2026

Violet Sabrewing!

This is a massive hummingbird, nearly double the size of the other hummingbirds we saw on this hike. And to no one's surprise, these guys are pretty aggressive and dominant. Just about every hummingbird is noticeably terroritial, but none of the other hummingbirds really tried this one when he came out 😅

I assume the little missing patch is some actively molting feathers, but also wouldn't be shocked if it was from some recent sparring sessions with other sabrewings 😂

Taken with .americas gear
Specifically, OM1II and the 50-200 F2.8 Pro

Lesson's Motmot! I showed their nest in my video earlier this week, but since this pair was active feeding and on such a...
05/15/2026

Lesson's Motmot!

I showed their nest in my video earlier this week, but since this pair was active feeding and on such a predictable rhythm bringing food back to the nest, it was pretty easy to catch them in nice perches or with their meals as they prepared to fly into the cavity

I honestly got way more motmot content than I could've hoped for, so hopefully everyone loves the motmots because I definitely have some more photos coming 😂

They truly are stunning birds with little personalities, and they are always a favorite of mine to photograph!

Happy Friday!

One of my favorite little finds from Costa Rica was this White-throated Spadebill nest tucked under some leaves! This wa...
05/14/2026

One of my favorite little finds from Costa Rica was this White-throated Spadebill nest tucked under some leaves! This was definitely not a bird I had on my nonexistent checklist, but I was very happy to see it.

I could have gone tighter here (and definitely did for some other frames) but I really liked showing the full scene and how well hidden these tiny nests can be in all the surrounding chaos.

This was photographed with the OM-1 Mark II and M.ZUIKO 50-200mm f/2.8 pro lens, which honestly says a lot about why I’ve enjoyed working with OM so much. Being able to comfortably move between tighter portraits and wider behavioral/environmental moments like this has opened up a ton for me creatively speaking.

That versatility is a big part of why I’m excited to be helping judge OM SYSTEM’s current bird photography contest this month! Entry is free, submissions are open through the end of May, and there are some great prizes involved as well. If you’ve been thinking about entering, the link is in my bio .americas

Emerald Toucanet chick watching mom leave after a feeding and cleanup session!I struggled way more than I should have de...
05/12/2026

Emerald Toucanet chick watching mom leave after a feeding and cleanup session!

I struggled way more than I should have deciding what to post first from Costa Rica.

I think a lot of photographers understand that weird pressure of wanting the first image back from a trip to somehow represent the entire trip's success in one swoop. It practically feels like if you choose the wrong one, you've put the whole trip to shame..

In reality, however, I chose to lead with this photo for much simpler reasons. Emerald toucanets are awesome! And I didn't have a ton of variety to sort through for this moment.

I spent two afternoons and one morning watching this nest, and while I didn't get a huge variety of different compositions to work with and only witnessed a couple of feedings, I did get lucky enough to catch this moment where the chick peeked out just as mom was leaving.

At this stage, she was still fully entering the cavity to feed, so I never got to photograph the actual handoff, but one detail I love here is the debris in her beak. Parents not only bring food, but they put a lot of work in to keep the cavity clean. While I've never been in a cavity nest myself, I imagine those things can get pretty nasty quick 😅😂

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